Wetar
Encyclopedia
The tropical island of Wetar belongs to the Indonesia
n province of Maluku and is the largest island of the Barat Daya Islands
(literally Southwest Islands). It lies east of the Lesser Sunda Islands
, which include nearby Alor and Timor
, but it is politically part of the Maluku Islands
. To the south, across the Wetar Strait
, lies the island of Timor; at its closest it is 50 km away. To the west, across the Ombai Strait
, lies the island of Alor. To the southwest is the very small island of Liran
and, further, the small East Timor
ese island of Atauro. To the north is the Banda Sea
and to the east lie Romang
and Damar, the other principal islands of the Barat Daya Islands.
The principal towns on Wetar are Lioppa in the northwest, Ilwaki in the south, Wasiri in the north, Masapun in the east, and Arwala in the northeast. These are connected by roads.
Wetar is part of a volcanic island arc
which includes the other Barat Daya Islands and the Banda Islands
, created by the collision of the Indo-Australian Plate
and the Eurasian Plate
. It is not, however, principally of volcanic origin, being instead mainly oceanic crust
that has been lifted by the plate collision. The stratovolcano
Gunungapi Wetar
forms an isolated island to the north of Wetar.
There are a number of gold
mines on Wetar, which have been poorly managed and constitute an environmental concern.
Along with other nearby islands, it formed part of Wallacea
, the area of deep water separated from both the Asia
n and Australia
n continental shelves. This region is known for its unusual fauna, and Wetar is no exception. It has 162 species of birds, three of which are endemic
, and four of which are endangered. Rainfall is highly seasonal based on the monsoon
, and the islands are mostly covered in tropical dry broadleaf forests that are partly deciduous, with many trees losing their leaves in the dry season. It forms part of the Timor and Wetar deciduous forests ecoregion.
which are endemic to Wetar. Wetarese
, which is also spoken on the nearby islands of Liran
and Atauro, is one such language. Others include Aputai, Ili'uun, Perai
, Talur, and Tugun. These are all spoken by small groups of about 1,000 people each. The national language Indonesian
or regional Ambonese Malay are commonly used.
The main economic activity on Wetar is subsistence agriculture
, principally of sago
. Tortoise
shells are also gathered and exported to countries where the trade is not banned.
Most of the inhabitants are of Papuan descent. Most are Muslim
s, but there are some Christian
s as well.
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
n province of Maluku and is the largest island of the Barat Daya Islands
Barat Daya Islands
The Barat Daya Islands are a group of islands in the Maluku province of Indonesia. The Indonesian phrase barat daya means 'south-west'.-Geography:...
(literally Southwest Islands). It lies east of the Lesser Sunda Islands
Lesser Sunda Islands
The Lesser Sunda Islands or Nusa Tenggara are a group of islands in the southern Maritime Southeast Asia, north of Australia. Together with the Greater Sunda Islands to the west they make up the Sunda Islands...
, which include nearby Alor and Timor
Timor
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, north of the Timor Sea. It is divided between the independent state of East Timor, and West Timor, belonging to the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. The island's surface is 30,777 square kilometres...
, but it is politically part of the Maluku Islands
Maluku Islands
The Maluku Islands are an archipelago that is part of Indonesia, and part of the larger Maritime Southeast Asia region. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone...
. To the south, across the Wetar Strait
Wetar Strait
The Wetar Strait separates the eastern part of the island of Timor from the island of Wetar. It thus lies between the nations of Indonesia to the north and East Timor to the south. To the west is Atauro, and beyond it the Ombai Strait; while to the east is the southern part of the Banda Sea and...
, lies the island of Timor; at its closest it is 50 km away. To the west, across the Ombai Strait
Ombai Strait
The Ombai Strait is the strait which separates the Alor Archipelago from the islands of Wetar, Atauro, and Timor in the Lesser Sunda Islands. Wetar is part of the Maluku Province of Indonesia, the Alor Archipelago and the western part of Timor are part of the province of East Nusa Tenggara,...
, lies the island of Alor. To the southwest is the very small island of Liran
Liran
Liran Island is a small island off the southwest coast of Wetar Island, Indonesia. 12 km to the southwest is the East Timorese island Atauro. Liran is the westernmost of the Barat Daya Islands in the province of Maluku.Liran is surrounded by coral reefs....
and, further, the small East Timor
East Timor
The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, commonly known as East Timor , is a state in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor...
ese island of Atauro. To the north is the Banda Sea
Banda Sea
The Banda Sea is a sea in the Maluku Islands of Indonesia, technically part of the Pacific Ocean but separated from it by hundreds of islands, as well as the Halmahera and Ceram Seas...
and to the east lie Romang
Romang
Romang is an island, part of Barat Daya Islands in Indonesia, located at , east of Wetar Island.-External links:*...
and Damar, the other principal islands of the Barat Daya Islands.
The principal towns on Wetar are Lioppa in the northwest, Ilwaki in the south, Wasiri in the north, Masapun in the east, and Arwala in the northeast. These are connected by roads.
Geography
Wetar is 130 km wide east-to-west, and 45 km north-to-south. It has an area of 3600 km². It is surrounded by coral reefs and deep seas. The highest point on the island is 1412 m.Wetar is part of a volcanic island arc
Island arc
An island arc is a type of archipelago composed of a chain of volcanoes which alignment is arc-shaped, and which are situated parallel and close to a boundary between two converging tectonic plates....
which includes the other Barat Daya Islands and the Banda Islands
Banda Islands
The Banda Islands are a volcanic group of ten small volcanic islands in the Banda Sea, about south of Seram Island and about east of Java, and are part of the Indonesian province of Maluku. The main town and administrative centre is Bandanaira, located on the island of the same name. They rise...
, created by the collision of the Indo-Australian Plate
Indo-Australian Plate
The Indo-Australian Plate is a major tectonic plate that includes the continent of Australia and surrounding ocean, and extends northwest to include the Indian subcontinent and adjacent waters...
and the Eurasian Plate
Eurasian Plate
The Eurasian Plate is a tectonic plate which includes most of the continent of Eurasia , with the notable exceptions of the Indian subcontinent, the Arabian subcontinent, and the area east of the Chersky Range in East Siberia...
. It is not, however, principally of volcanic origin, being instead mainly oceanic crust
Oceanic crust
Oceanic crust is the part of Earth's lithosphere that surfaces in the ocean basins. Oceanic crust is primarily composed of mafic rocks, or sima, which is rich in iron and magnesium...
that has been lifted by the plate collision. The stratovolcano
Stratovolcano
A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a tall, conical volcano built up by many layers of hardened lava, tephra, pumice, and volcanic ash. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile and periodic, explosive eruptions...
Gunungapi Wetar
Gunungapi Wetar
Gunungapi Wetar is an isolated volcanic island to the north of Wetar island in the Banda Sea, Indonesia. The island, a stratovolcano, only extends 282 m above sea level, but the total height of the summit from the sea bed is over 5000 m. Explosions in 1512 and 1699 are the only historical...
forms an isolated island to the north of Wetar.
There are a number of gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
mines on Wetar, which have been poorly managed and constitute an environmental concern.
Along with other nearby islands, it formed part of Wallacea
Wallacea
Wallacea is a biogeographical designation for a group of Indonesian islands separated by deep water straits from the Asian and Australian continental shelves. Wallacea includes Sulawesi, the largest island in the group, as well as Lombok, Sumbawa, Flores, Sumba, Timor, Halmahera, Buru, Seram, and...
, the area of deep water separated from both the Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
n and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n continental shelves. This region is known for its unusual fauna, and Wetar is no exception. It has 162 species of birds, three of which are endemic
Endemic (ecology)
Endemism is the ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. For example, all species of lemur are endemic to the...
, and four of which are endangered. Rainfall is highly seasonal based on the monsoon
Monsoon
Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea...
, and the islands are mostly covered in tropical dry broadleaf forests that are partly deciduous, with many trees losing their leaves in the dry season. It forms part of the Timor and Wetar deciduous forests ecoregion.
Culture
There are a number of Timor languages branch of Malayo-Polynesian languagesMalayo-Polynesian languages
The Malayo-Polynesian languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages, with approximately 385.5 million speakers. These are widely dispersed throughout the island nations of Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean, with a smaller number in continental Asia...
which are endemic to Wetar. Wetarese
Wetarese
Wetarese is the language of Wetar, an island in the south Maluku, Indonesia, as well as the nearby islands Liran and Atauro, the latter belonging to East Timor....
, which is also spoken on the nearby islands of Liran
Liran
Liran Island is a small island off the southwest coast of Wetar Island, Indonesia. 12 km to the southwest is the East Timorese island Atauro. Liran is the westernmost of the Barat Daya Islands in the province of Maluku.Liran is surrounded by coral reefs....
and Atauro, is one such language. Others include Aputai, Ili'uun, Perai
Perai
Perai is a main industrial area in Penang, Malaysia. It is situated in Seberang Perai, which is on the mainland....
, Talur, and Tugun. These are all spoken by small groups of about 1,000 people each. The national language Indonesian
Indonesian language
Indonesian is the official language of Indonesia. Indonesian is a normative form of the Riau Islands dialect of Malay, an Austronesian language which has been used as a lingua franca in the Indonesian archipelago for centuries....
or regional Ambonese Malay are commonly used.
The main economic activity on Wetar is subsistence agriculture
Subsistence agriculture
Subsistence agriculture is self-sufficiency farming in which the farmers focus on growing enough food to feed their families. The typical subsistence farm has a range of crops and animals needed by the family to eat and clothe themselves during the year. Planting decisions are made with an eye...
, principally of sago
Sago
Sago is a starch extracted in the spongy center or pith, of various tropical palm stems, Metroxylon sagu. It is a major staple food for the lowland peoples of New Guinea and the Moluccas, where it is called saksak and sagu. A type of flour, called sago flour, is made from sago. The largest supply...
. Tortoise
Tortoise
Tortoises are a family of land-dwelling reptiles of the order of turtles . Like their marine cousins, the sea turtles, tortoises are shielded from predators by a shell. The top part of the shell is the carapace, the underside is the plastron, and the two are connected by the bridge. The tortoise...
shells are also gathered and exported to countries where the trade is not banned.
Most of the inhabitants are of Papuan descent. Most are Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
s, but there are some Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
s as well.
Endemic fauna
- Wetar Ground-doveWetar Ground-doveThe Wetar Ground Dove is a species of bird in the Columbidae family.It is named after Wetar Island, Indonesia and is found also in Timor-Leste....
- Wetar FigbirdWetar FigbirdThe Wetar Figbird is a monotypic species of bird in the Oriolidae family. It is endemic to forest, woodland and scrub on the Indonesian island of Wetar. It remains very poorly known, but is possibly threatened by habitat loss, resulting in it being listed as Near Threatened by BirdLife...
- Wetar Island python
- Wetar Lorikeet